The Snake and the Eagle
by HestiaForever
Summary: "They had always had a kind of sort-of-crush feeling hovering between them, but neither had acted upon it. But then it gets stronger, and stronger, and stronger, until one day, after her Transfiguration class, Rowena finds herself somehow trapped against the wall of the astronomy tower in Salazar's arms." Rowena Ravenclaw/Salazar Slytherin
1. Rowena

**A/N: Yes, another Rowena/Salazar one-shot… I've been in a Founders-Era haze in the past few weeks…**

 **I'll update my multi-chaptered fics soon! I promise that I don't plan on abandoning any of them. :)**

 **I hope you like this! Please favorite and review! Even a quick smiley face or frowny face would make me happy.**

 **Disclaimer: The Harry Potter Universe belongs to J.K. Rowling. I am making no monetary profit off of this.**

* * *

Even Rowena herself isn't sure how it happens.

They had always had a kind of sort-of-crush feeling hovering between them, but neither had acted upon it. After all, it hadn't been that strong of an urge at first, and neither Rowena nor Salazar was the type of person to rush into something, especially after so many years of friendship.

But then it gets stronger, and stronger, and stronger, until one day, after her Transfiguration class, Rowena finds herself somehow trapped against the wall of the astronomy tower in Salazar's arms. She isn't sure how she got there; all she knows is that he says something and then she says something, breathless, and then suddenly his lips are on hers and it feels so wrong because they're both _professors_ and here they are snogging like a pair of hormonal teenagers but then he presses harder against her lips and she isn't thinking anymore for once and _oh Merlin_.

It escalates after that- Salazar cornering her in empty classrooms in between classes; Rowena visiting his quarters after curfew- and suddenly, inexplicably, Rowena finds herself doing two things she had sworn never to do, years ago.

Lose her better judgement and fall in love.

Love isn't like what Rowena imagined it as- it's not just damsels in distress and knights in shining armor. No, their love is so much more than that. It's the cackling passion between them when his emerald green eyes meet her stormy gray ones; it's the tender sweetness when their lips meet; it's feeling that she'd do anything for him.

What frightens Rowena most about love is that it isn't rational. There isn't a manual for love. It's limitless and boundless and ruleless and it's both exhilarating and intimidating.

But when Salazar touches her, all thoughts about rules and and fear disappear, and suddenly there's only one indefinable feeling.

 _Love_.

And Rowena thinks that perhaps all those love stories she had called silly up until now were not quite that unrealistic after all. Because when Salazar looks at her, she knows that she would do anything- from fight a Hungarian Horntail to hang herself- for him.

* * *

When he leaves that day in the peak of summer, she doesn't believe it at first. Several hours after the argument, Rowena goes outside to search for him, thinking that he's just sulking around his favorite spot under an old oak beside the lake, or perhaps walking along the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest.

But he's not there. Or anywhere.

After hours of relentless searching, Rowena finally comes to terms with the growing feeling in the pit of her stomach. Salazar is gone.

And her heart shatters.

Rowena hasn't felt anything like it before. She hadn't thought that someone's heart could _actually_ ache- she had thought that the term _heartache_ was merely an exaggeration.

But the choking pain in her chest is anything but an exaggeration.

That night is the first time Rowena Ravenclaw cries in decades.

* * *

Rowena is sure that Godric and Helga notice something is wrong- they know her too well to not notice. But they also know her well enough to know not to press, so they leave her alone.

Until she becomes sick. At first, the Head of Ravenclaw passes it off as a simple cold, and her fellow professors seem to believe her.

That is, they believe her until she passes out right in the middle of a charms class.

By then, Rowena has already realized what has happened. She is not stupid, and she knows full well what she and Salazar have done.

That night, when Helga asks, concerned, about Rowena's health, Rowena tells her the truth. The truth that even Rowena did not fully believe, did not want to believe, until the words are out in the open, resonating around her bedchamber, and finally, the situation hits her full in the head.

Salazar is gone forever, leaving behind not only his lover, but his child.

* * *

For once in her life, Rowena Ravenclaw doesn't have the answers.

 _What were you thinking?_ That one comes from Godric. The truth is, Rowena doesn't know. Perhaps she wasn't thinking for the first time in her life; perhaps she was absolutely blinded with love.

 _Will you keep the child as your own?_ That one comes from her mother. Rowena wants to keep the child, of course she does. But if the truth came out, Hogwarts might be ruined. It is such a young school, and who would want to send their child to a place whose headmistress has an illicit child? And besides, Rowena is in no place in her life to care for a baby. Perhaps it would be happier with someone else… But no, Rowena cannot bear the thought of giving her child away…

 _Why didn't you tell us?_ That one comes from Helga. And Rowena doesn't know. Now that she thinks back, the Head of Ravenclaw herself wonders why she didn't even consider telling her two closest friends about her relationship with Salazar. Perhaps it was the secretive way Salazar had always gone about their affair, and the fact that she was so in love that Rowena never questioned it. _Love can really be an inconvenient thing._

 _Why did you let him do this to you?_ This one comes from Godric, again, and after hearing it, Rowena finally storms away from her room, effectively ending the interrogation. She doesn't know why she leaves; she's never been the quick tempered sort. _Perhaps it's the pregnancy hormones she's read so much about finally coming to life_ , she tells herself.

But inside, Rowena knows that that's not really the reason. It's because she doesn't want to hear the words that she knows are true; she doesn't want to admit that for once, she wasn't thinking straight; that for once, she didn't come out on top.

 _How could you let him do this to you?_

 _I loved him. I loved him, and he betrayed me._

 _What will I do?_

And for once, Rowena Ravenclaw doesn't know.

* * *

So much can happen in nine months.

Seasons change. Men die. Wars are won and lost.

But as Rowena Ravenclaw learns the hard way, nine months is not enough to heal a broken heart.

Her façade hardens, and Helga and Godric are finally convinced that she is okay. Rowena's heart is still shattered, but finally, she has found all of the pieces. Perhaps it isn't glued together yet, but that will come in time.

Nine months isn't enough time to heal a broken heart, perhaps. But it is enough time to have a child.

Helena Ravenclaw is born in the warm spring of 978. The birth isn't easy on Rowena. But as she gazes down on her newborn child, she feels truly happy for the first time since Salazar left. And Rowena knows that if she were given another chance, she wouldn't change anything.

At first glance, young Helena seems to be all Rowena. Until she opens her eyes.

And Rowena sees a pair of emerald green orbs as familiar to her as the back of her own hand. A pair of emerald green orbs that she hasn't seen in nine months. A pair of emerald green orbs that Rowena once gazed lovingly at as she proclaimed her love to another human for the first time. A pair of emerald green orbs that stared at her, unblinking, as she begged _him_ not to leave on the day that she lost the love of her life.

And her heart shatters anew.

Rowena barely registers Helga asking her if she would like to write Salazar. And the truth is, Rowena would like nothing more than to pick up a quill and a sheet of parchment and beg him to come back. Merlin knows she would sell her soul just to see him again. But her anger speaks, and suddenly she is saying words that she knows comes from her heart, and not her brain.

And for the first time in her life, Rowena Ravenclaw doesn't care.

Rowena watches as Helena grows from a chubby toddler into a beautiful young lady. Whenever she looks into her daughter's eyes, she is reminded of her lost love. But somehow, every single time those emerald eyes meet hers, Rowena's heart heals a little bit more.

Rowena Ravenclaw will never stop loving Salazar Slytherin, but time and a new love have bandaged the wound.

And yet, during those moments when time seems to stop and the world fades away, Rowena cannot get him out of her head. And she wonders where he is in the wide world. She wonders what he looks like now. She wonders what he is doing.

And if he is thinking of her.

* * *

Rowena Ravenclaw knows that she is dying.

It is not illness or age that is slowly eating away at the brightest witch of her age. No, it is a broken heart.

Rowena loves two people above all else, and both have betrayed her.

She knows that the baron's son will not rest until he has found Helena. She has seen the wistful glances he sends her daughter's way, and Rowena knows first-hand the look of a broken heart. No, he will bring Helena back, one day. But something tells Rowena that she will not be on this Earth long enough to welcome her beloved daughter back.

Rowena sighs- a melancholy noise, full of suffering. She has been in anguish for so long… her dreams are beckoning to her… she is almost there… almost to a place without pain… the warm sunlight is almost on her face… she can feel it…

Rowena Ravenclaw smiles and closes her eyes.

* * *

 **A/N- Did you like it? Did the ending seem too abrupt? Favorite and review, please! I'd love some constructive criticism.**


	2. Salazar

**A/N: Okay… I know I said that this was going to be a one-shot… I was going to post this as a separate piece, but I realized that it would probably be better if I combined it with The Snake and the Eagle. So now it's a two-shot. :)**

 **Disclaimer (Do we even have to do these? Because if you're writing on this site, you're probably not J.K. Rowling.) : J.K. Rowling owns the Harry Potter universe, not me.**

* * *

Salazar Slytherin claims to not be afraid of anything.

In all actuality, though, he is afraid of plenty of things. Death, for one. And- though he has never told anyone about this (his pride would never live it down), he is afraid of pigeons. Nasty little things…

But above all, Salazar Slytherin is afraid of love.

To him, love is an uncontrollable beast, a disease that twists resolves and controls actions and dampens intellect. If you asked him, Salazar would tell you, without hesitation, that he has never loved, never been loved, and will never love.

But of course, that would not be true.

Once upon a time, Salazar loved his sister. But that was before she, along with the little tolerance Salazar had for muggles, went up in flames.

Once upon a time, Salazar loved Godric Gryffindor and Helga Hufflepuff like his own siblings. But that was before age-old grief and differences in opinion tore them apart.

Once upon a time, Salazar loved Rowena Ravenclaw. And though he wants above anything to make that love disappear, he knows that the burning fire in his soul for her will never be put out.

And perhaps that is what scares Salazar most.

* * *

Salazar still sees that day in his nightmares- the shouting between him and the three people closest to his heart; the _zing_ of metal against metal as Godric drew his sword; the slam of the cherry-oak doors as he left all he had built in the past decades behind.

But most of all, Salazar sees Rowena's face- tears streaming down from her beautiful gray eyes, heat emanating from where she clasped his hand, her melodious voice still as wondrous as ever as she begged him not to leave.

And he sees himself, committing the worst mistake of his life as he walks away from the first woman that had been able to melt the cold shields around his heart and make him fall for her.

Salazar hates going back to Hogsmeade, where he can see Hogwarts once again, the tall turrets and stone walls towering over the skyline. Three people who were once the most important in his life reside there- two that he never want to see again, and one that he would sell his soul just to catch one last secret glimpse of.

But that doesn't change the fact that the best potions ingredients in all of Wizarding Britain are sold there, so once a month, Salazar grits his teeth, disguises his appearance, and slinks into Hogsmeade once again, staying just long enough to grab several vials and bottles off the shelves of _Pandora's_ and leave several galleons in their place.

On a particularly warm day in the peak of spring, Salazar is on one of these expeditions when he knocks into a plump woman on his way out from the apothecary's. He is about to grunt out an apology when he suddenly realizes who, exactly, it is that he has bumped into.

It is the village midwife, Madame Genevieve, who happens to have been a dear friend of Helga's.

Salazar almost jumps back in fear of the old woman recognizing him, too, before he realizes, with a sigh of relief, that he is disguised. "Sorry," Salazar says, backing away quickly.

But Genevieve merely grins toothlessly. "Hast thou heard the wonderful news, noble sir? Madam Ravenclaw has successfully birthed a daughter!"

Salazar drops his sack of potions ingredients, his blood running cold as all thoughts of a quick escape vanish from his mind. The wizard's intelligent mind quickly does the math- it has been just about nine months since he left. The average length of a human pregnancy. But no- that can't be possible- "W-with whom?"

The midwife leans in conspiringly. "No one knows, not really. But there's a rumor going around that it's Slytherin- y'know, the professor that left mysteriously last summer. I don't think it's very likely myself, sir- I don't think Madam Ravenclaw would do something like that- but you've got to admit that there's some believability in it, with the timing of Slytherin's departure, and all…"

Madam Genevieve trails off as Salazar promptly rids himself of his lunch.

* * *

That night, Salazar can't sleep. He had tried to rid all thoughts of Rowena on the long trek home from Hogsmeade to no avail. If Rowena's daughter is really his as well-

But no, Salazar can't stand the thought of going back to Hogwarts. His murdered sister's face stares accusingly at him from the back of his forcefully closed eyelids. _You can't fraternize with the likes of them, Salazar_ , he tells himself. _Sympathizers with the muggles that killed your sister._

At least, that's what Salazar tells himself. Deep in one of the few thawed parts of his frozen cold heart, Salazar admits the real reason he does not want to return to Hogwarts.

He is afraid of what will happen to him if he sees Rowena again.

* * *

Somehow, through the anguish and the regret, time moves on. Seasons change. Years go by.

Salazar becomes an old man long before his time, aged by loneliness and heartache. Some days, he comes frighteningly close to going back to Hogwarts. Especially on his monthly trips back into civilization- when he looks up to the young school that he helped create.

But the fear keeps him where he is- fear that his once-true friends will not accept him again; fear that if he does reveal himself, no one will trust him. And above all, the fear of the burning love he still harbors in his soul for Rowena Ravenclaw, even after all these years of separation.

And so, despite the lump in his throat whenever he goes back into Hogsmeade, Salazar forces his feet, month after month, to head back to his cottage.

And not to where his heart truly lies.

* * *

At some point in his self-imposed exile, Salazar's feelings toward his monthly Hogsmeade trips begins to change. When once, they were dreaded days in which every step could lead to possible discovery, they are now treasured moments in which Salazar gets to be near other people again, in which he gets to pretend that none of the mess that is the past two decades of his life happened.

And, Salazar admits grudgingly, nowadays, he likes the company of other people. Once upon a time, Salazar had been an introverted bibliophile, only being able to stand the company of his books, his potions, and perhaps Rowena. But now, he finds himself staying at Hogsmeade longer and longer, to speak with the villagers, or perhaps just move with the crowds and revel in the feeling of being near other witches and wizards. He has given up on disguising himself long ago. It has been so long that Salazar doubts anyone would recognize him, and transfiguration only lasts for a set amount of time.

It is on one of these days when Salazar meets her for the first time.

He is browsing in a bookstore when she comes in, rattling the bookshelf in front of Salazar as she does so. Salazar is looking up to frown at her when he nearly has a heart attack.

The young woman just a couple shelves away from him is a carbon copy of a teenaged Rowena. Brunette curls, sharp grey eyes, pointed Grecian nose, and that distinctive air that's just so _Ravenclaw_.

Salazar's heart nearly beats out of his chest. Could this possibly be-

He approaches her, heart thrumming nervously. "What is your name?"

The young woman looks up at him mistrustingly. "What business is that of yours?"

Salazar had never imagined that he would ever find himself begging a woman less than a half of his age for her name, but this chance encounter is also unlike anything he could have imagined. " _Please_."

She frowns at him again, but reluctantly tells him her name anyway. "Helena. Helena Ravenclaw."

Salazar has never felt anything like this before. There have been times in the past seventeen years in which he doubted that Rowena's daughter was his as well, but now, staring at this young woman, her eyes a shocking emerald like the ones he sees every time he looks into a mirror, he knows without a doubt that Helena Ravenclaw's name could have been Helena Slytherin.

Father and daughter stare at each other, energy cackling between them. Finally, unable to take the tsunami of feelings threatening to rise within him, Salazar breaks the gaze. He is about to walk away like the coward he knows he is- before he remembers the date.

Swallowing the tears bubbling at the surface, Salazar looks at his daughter one last time, reaching deep into his emerald green robes for a bronze and blue locket. The last momento Rowena had ever given him. A momento that, despite telling himself that he wants nothing to do with Rowena, he has kept it all these years as the last remnant of their love.

It is difficult giving it away. But he has missed sixteen of Helena's birthdays already. She deserves this. And, perhaps, giving his last keepsake of Rowena to their daughter will give him closure.

"Happy birthday, Helena."

Salazar walks away and does not look back.

* * *

Unbeknownst to Salazar, that night, when Helena returns home to Hogwarts, she tells her mother and the two people who have been like an aunt and uncle to her all her life about the strange man at Hogsmeade who had so desperately wanted to know her name, had known her birthday and had even given a locket to her.

When she holds the glittering locket to the light, Godric gasps. "Isn't that your old locket, Rowena? The one that you gave to- to-"

Godric trails off. The three remaining founders look at each other, the end of Godric's sentence hovering, unspoken, between them.

 _The one that you gave to Salazar. Before he left._

Seeing Rowena's stricken look, Helga asks a confused Helena, gently, "What did the man look like, dear?"

Helena describes Salazar in detail. And although none of the founders have seen him in nearly two decades, there is no doubt that the man Helena had seen at Hogsmeade had indeed been Salazar Slytherin.

Rowena runs out of the Great Hall in tears.

* * *

Two more years pass. Salazar knows that he is dying.

Twenty years ago, when Salazar was still in his prime, death would have been a scary prospect. But now… There is nothing left for Salazar in life anymore. Perhaps death will be a door away from this monotonous drone of regret that is living.

And so, he sits at the little window of his cottage, day in and day out, waiting for Thanatos to come and take him.

Until one day, a small tawny owl swoops into his window.

For the first time in forever, Salazar is curious. Who in the world would want to send a letter to him? Perhaps the owl had gotten lost?

He unfastens the small black envelope from the owl's leg, who hoots at him once and flies away. On the back of the envelope is his name, written in a familiar script that makes his blood run cold.

Salazar hasn't seen that particular petite cursive in decades, but he would recognize it anywhere.

It is Helga Hufflepuff's.

Dread coursing through his veins, Salazar slowly waves his wand, the envelope unfolding. With shaking hands, the old wizard extracts a single sheet of parchment, on it three words.

 _Rowena is dead._

Salazar slowly backs towards the wall, feeling lightheaded. No… it can't be true…

But he can feel it inside. He can feel the fire that is still burning inside him for Rowena Ravenclaw… he can feel it fading.

And he can feel himself fading with it.

Salazar Slytherin closes his eyes and welcomes death.


End file.
